Miles Everson at PricewaterhouseCoopers

Abstract

Miles Everson, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is the Global Engagement Partner (GEP) for a large U.S. financial institution and about to take over this role for a much larger global financial institution. The GEP role is a critical one at PwC. GEPs have responsibility for the firm's largest and most important clients. They must manage a vast external network of client employees and an equally vast internal network of the firm's employees. The GEP needs to have a deep understanding of the client and its industry in order to identify opportunities and problems where the firm's resources can be brought to bear and to match the firm's capabilities to the client's needs. GEPs must be able to simultaneously manage a larger number of tasks, often under great time pressure. This case describes how a very effective GEP- Miles Everson who was named one of the top 25 consultants for 2006 by "Consulting Magazine" - performs this role and provides insights into the attitudes, skills and subject matter expertise necessary to be successful in this role. Insights into how Everson does this job are provided by both PwC and client personnel. As is often the case, Everson is responsible for a business (in his case Governance, Risk and Compliance) and so he has substantial internal management responsibilities as well. The case raises questions about whether he will be able to retain these internal management responsibilities when he takes over a much larger and more complex global client and becomes the Senior Engagement Partner (SEP) on his current client. (SEPs perform an oversight role for the work being done by the GEP and his or her team and are typically very senior members of the firm.) The case also raises areas where Everson can improve.